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Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category

 

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them” – Hebrews 11:13

To embrace is to hold on and not let go.

It was what the Syrophenician woman in the Bible1 did when she kept pressing Jesus for her daughter’s deliverance in spite of insults. It was what blind Bartimaeus2 did when he kept crying out to Jesus in spite of everyone telling he to pipe down.

There is an IF to receiving from God,

“[I]n due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” – Galatians 6:9b

When you see what you want and you become convinced you can have it, embrace it and don’t take “No!” for an answer.

– fritz
1 – Mark 7:28
2 – Mark 10:46

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“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them…” – Hebrews 11:13

Following faith is a five (5) step process beginning with seeing God’s promises afar off – choosing to believe that what looks impossible right now is possible with God.

But that is not enough! We must become convinced what we see is intended for us, and that comes through persuasion – an interesting combination of evidence, testimony, and choice. God doesn’t expect us to believe without evidence but he does expect us to allow ourselves to become persuaded.

That persuasion usually comes through what’s called a “witness”, or “testimony”. God provides a witness in our hearts that what we are desiring he wants to give.

Read it in Hebrews 11 – Able had the witness, Enoch got the testimony, Abraham heard the “call”, Sarah believed what she heard from God and though she laughed she became convinced!

Where does the witness come from? Ultimately from God, but sometimes by way of listening to others we respect, by reading what is written in the Bible, and by asking God to speak in our hearts.

Spend some time with godly people – those following faith. Listen to some good preaching (you don’t have to wait until Sunday), have some alone time reading the Bible and asking God to speak it into your heart.

Tell God you are willing to be persuaded!

– fritz

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“The just shall live by faith.”
– Romans 1:7, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38

Living by faith is more a matter of following than leading. It involves a five (5) step process revealed in Hebrews 11:13. After listing some famous people it says,

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

The first step, “seeing … afar off”, is seeing something from God that looks impossible, and wanting it.

For Abraham it was a son, for Enoch it was not having to die, for Noah it was being spared from world catastrophe, and for all the heroes of faith it was having a place to call their own that would not wear out or fade away.

The Bible says,

“[God] is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” – Ephesians 3:20

Our problem is that we settle for so little, thinking all we can expect is what we currently have right now.

God can do more! Take that first step; begin to dream big and follow faith!

– fritz

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